PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan -- Tribal leaders and local government officials of Brooke’s Point, southern Palawan, have strongly condemned the persistent presence of the New People’s Army (NPA), believing the terrorist organization will hinder their town’s progress.
Brooke’s Point, a developing first-class municipality in the southern part of the province and recipient of a special distinction award for good local governance, appears to be serving as the “comfort zone” of the NPA, according to the Western Command’s Marine Battalion Landing Team 4.
“I was happy because of this award, but right after receiving it, a crime was committed here. That’s why I said, what was that? I don’t want to be thankful anymore, and to be proud of our achievement, because the year has not ended and something tragic already happened,” said Mayor Maryjean Feliciano during a Municipal Peace and Order Council (MPOC) meeting held Monday afternoon.
Feliciano was referring to the murder on December 7 of former NPA member Junjun Lacaran at Sitio Cabangaan, Barangay Samariniana, Brooke’s Point, by two unidentified assailants, alleged to be his former comrades.
“We are not in denial that there is NPA presence in Brooke’s Point because there was one barangay chairman who already reported that there are rebels doing this and that. That is why we, ourselves, requested to the Philippine Marines to put a company here,” she said in an interview Tuesday morning.
The mayor stressed that NPA members may have been going back to Brooke’s Point to seek shelter from focused military operations because they have supporters in the mountainous area.
She added that she received information that the rebels had been hiding in Mount Mantalingahan Range area.
Feliciano said the NPAs could be driven out of the Palawan if the Armed Forces of the Philippines would position additional troops to comb the areas where the rebels are holed up.
Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representative (IPMR) Victor Colili, who led the tribal leaders and other barangay IPMRs in denouncing the NPA, said the presence of the terrorist group is causing fear among the Pala’wan indigenous peoples (IP), whose population is estimated to be around 51,000 in the southern part of the province.
“Di naman sila mananatili sa mga bundok sa Brooke’s Point kung walang nagsusuporta. May mga na-re-recruit sila na katutubo at ‘yon ang mga kakausapin para pasukuin at matulungan (They will not stay in Brooke’s Point if they are not getting any support. They have recruited IP residents, and they are the ones we want to help surrender and provide livelihood support),” Colili said.
The IPMR said the Pala’wans and other indigenous peoples may have been easily recruited because they are peace-loving people, who are afraid to make enemies.
Lt. Col. Danilo Facundo, commanding officer of the MBLT4 and head of the Joint Task Group South (JTGS), reported during the MPOC that the town is the “mass-based of the NPA as they are comfortable there due to the presence of many supporters.”
“Imagine seven out of 10 rebels who come to us to surrender are from Brooke’s Point. Majority of the war materiel and other items we had confiscated since March were also from this town,” he said.
Salogon, Samariñana, Saraza, Tabud, and Amas are barangays in the municipality that are closely under the watch of JTGS, Facundo said.
“We have to work together - all of us - the LGU, the tribal leaders, the IPs, to end the local insurgency to stop it from deterring the development and progress of Brooke’s Point,” he added. (PNA)
